Finding a balance in your life that is perfect for you is one thing, now try maintaining that balance. Sometimes this feels like an impossible task in todays society.
Priorities in our life today are often imbalanced, defocused and confused with the real importance of life. To live a life of vitality, happiness and fulfilment, our health from a holistic level must be the priority. We need to balance the internal and external elements.
A centred, happy, relaxed, peaceful mind. Excitement to start everyday with an abundance of self love and love and gratitude for everyone and everything around you. A pain free, strong, healthy body that allows you to not just survive but thrive. A glow of healthy radiance.
To me this is health. To achieve, and maintain the balance of life’s elements is challenging and ever changing. So where do you start and how do you make sure you maintain this personal balance?
Its simple;
1. Me first:
Yes you are the centre of your life balance. It’s not selfish to prioritise yourself, it’s just smart. When we prioritise a healthy body and mind we are then able to share our best and most productive self with the rest of life.
As a Personal Trainer I hear a lot of ‘I don’t have time to exercise’. If you don’t have time to put aside even 30 minutes (thats only 2% of your day) to care for yourself, your performance in other areas of your life will suffer. Exercise achieves so much for not only our physical health but mental wellbeing.
Yes food tastes amazing and has become a huge part of social and family life but it is also our form of survival or deterioration. Choose foods that will strengthen, protect and positively fuel our bodies, allowing ourselves to have the ability to thrive in life and feel fantastic doing so.
Take time for yourself. We all need to do things for ourselves that challenge, provides us with self fulfilment, and just allows us to be alone with our thoughts and/or escape them for a few moments in each day.
Everyday fill yourself with self love and gratitude! Whether you keep a diary, note down positive reasons and affiliations and/or just tell yourself them first thing in the morning and when needed throughout the day.
Also assess and priorities the importance of the people in your life. Don’t allow your energy to be drained by those who compromise your happiness, self worth and/or positive drive. Surround yourself with people who allow you to thrive.
2. Prioritise and acknowledge:
‘You can do anything but not everything’ – David Allen
Breakdown the internal and external elements of your life.
Internal; physical health, mind, heart
External; family, social, work, enjoyable ‘me’ time
At this point in time, which elements take first priority? You should have at least 3 of these to create some sort of balance. Now in each category go through and prioritise what are most important to least. Acknowledge that if the least important are consuming more of your time and energy than those above, changes need to be made.
For example last week I acknowledged within my work balance a lot of my time and energy was being focused on areas that actually had little importance in the bigger picture of things and this was then affecting my health, mind and ability to balance family, social & ‘me’ time.
Have clear set goals and regularly assess their current importance and your progress. Life changes and so might your priorities. Embrace it and reprioritise- its the fun of the game.
I like to end each week acknowledging areas that were positively balanced and assessing changes needing to be implemented towards those not. There is no set formula for life balance. It’s personal and it’s up to you to create, maintain and regularly reassess your own perfect balance.
Ask yourself these questions.
Where is most of my life balance tipping? Now where would I like it to be?
Do I address each internal and external element of balance in my life? If not how will I?
Which elements are most important to me? Now within those, which areas will be my first priorities?
Within myself what am I most happy/proud of? How can I embrace these further?
Within myself what am I unhappy about? How can I change it?
Do I take time to exercise regularly? If not where in my daily routine will this priority sit? If I do exercise regularly how can I improve my exercise routine?
Am I strengthening and protecting my body or am I weakening and creating deteriorations towards my health through my food and drink choices?
Am I generally happy? If not, why not and what can be done as this is now my first priority?
Much love,
Claudia X